Let me start out by saying that I always assumed that San Francisco would be a cultural epicenter since it houses a pretty diverse population. Naturally when my friend invited me to go to the Chinese New Year’s Parade this past weekend I was pretty excited since it is the biggest Chinese New Year’s parade in the nation. Well, I definitely had a blast… but for reasons I wasn’t quite expecting. The whole thing turned out to be an incredibly ridiculous and almost hysterical interpretation/reduction of Chinese culture mixed in with some good ‘ol American consumerist culture. Just to list a few highlights of the night:
1. A slew of, get this, dancing rice bowls (Sponsored by a Lucky’s near you!)
2. A white woman in pseudo-Chinese attire and a Confucius mustache
3. Reallyyy cute little babies dressed as oxen
4. 123812930 Southwest Airlines floats/banners/cars… (we get it, you paid for the whole thing!)
5. DRAGONSSS :)
6. Dragons hitting people the face as they went by
7. Irish marching band??
However, I do have to give props to the “Get a Life” marching band (really, that’s what they’re called). They were pretty kickass… any tambourine openings, guys?
You’re absolutely right! There were a mish-mash of bizarre and unrelated-to-Chinese-culture participants in this wild parade. But, for some odd reason it all seemed to work.
As you probably figured out, I’m part of that kickass marching band seeking to Get a Life! And, if you can play a mean tambourine or cowbell (”…more cowbell!”) and you like to have fun… come on a board! We have members from around the country who meet up with us wherever we end up.
If you’d like to experience that moment one more time…check us out on YouTube. Various folks sent along these links from YouTube showing the band in action in San Francisco.
Clip #1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3dPBFC31f8
Clip #2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cltoR1MG_RM
Thanks for the kudos!
Elton
Vancouver, WA